Monday, March 14, 2011

Navarro Canoe



Jennifer and I have been keeping our eyes open on the local craigslist for a little bigger canoe (okay, maybe it was mainly me looking). We looked into an 18 foot Kevlar Wenonah Jensen, but I had too many questions about it that we passed on it. At the same time a friend of mine told me about a Navarro Canoe that might be coming available. I had seen a few here and there, and let me tell you they are some beautiful canoes. I started searching for more about them and found one listed, but it was in Ashland Oregon (some 4.5 hours away). Seemed too far to go, but I emailed the guy selling it anyhow to get more information about these boats that I was quickly becoming highly interested in. I exchanged a few emails with him, and long story short, he and his wife offered us a very good deal on not only a beautiful 17 foot boat, but some nice paddles, a canoe cart that's more heavy duty than my old one (see my Daddy daughter canoe trip report to see what happened to my last one), and a bunch of miscellaneous PFDs and flotation pads (we can always use extras for guests). They liked the idea of selling the canoe to us, as they too had a boy and girl and used to enjoy canoeing with them when they were younger. It was just too good of a deal to pass up.



So Jennifer and I made a weekend of it, traveling to Ashland and staying right in the heart of town at the Plaza hotel. We had a really great time there walking around downtown, exploring Lithia park, eating at the Black Sheep pub, and having fun at the Science Works kids center after a delicious breakfast at Morning Glory's. Ashland is a really cool town in a really beautiful area.

Anyways, getting back to the main reason for our visit, we came back the proud new owners of a beautiful 17 foot Navarro Loon canoe. It is made out of fiberglass with thin cherry ribs lining the inside and beautiful wood gunwales and thwarts. I can't wait to get it out to some of the beautiful lakes that we like to paddle.

It's going to be like having a beautiful model and a Sherpa to come along on our trips :-)

Here's a few more shots taken out in the front lawn after I gave it a washing and put a UV repellent coat on the gelcoat.












5 comments:

Unknown said...

Beautiful Canoe. I just purchased one as well. I have to say mine is not in the condition yours is. Yours is spectacular. Nice find my friend.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Wow, what a beautiful craft! I am going to look at one tomorrow. Could you let me know how much yours weighs? Is it possible to handle putting onto a roofrack with single-handed? Any help would be much appreciated!

Regards

Sean

AlwaysJanuary said...

Hi Sean. My Loon weighs in at about 65lbs. It's certainly not an ultralight, but I can get it up on my shoulders and if I had to I could get it on top of my Ford Escape by myself. I'd probably have to rest it on one end though, and I'd hate to mess up those beautiful gunwales and decks. Fortunately for me, my wife always seems to be around to lend a hand and it's no problem at all for the two of us.

Unknown said...

I am looking at a white 1995 Navarro Loon 17 in excellent shape. What do you think is a fair price?

Lisa said...

We have had our Navarro Loon 17 for about 15 years. We were fortunate to get one off craigslist from a couple whose kids were grown (for a sweet price). this is not only a beautifully made boat, it is fast and straight, smooth and stable. a friend who has had a few canoes and paddles a lot, searched out a loon and travelled far to get it after trying ours. you will be happy with it. the only downside is you have to take care when coming into shore, lay pads down to avoid scraping the bottom on the rocks. it does take some care each year, but we have always been happy we have this special boat. Enjoy your paddle.